Darian Durant

Darian Bernard Durant (born August 19, 1982) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback.

He played college football at the University of North Carolina.

By the end of his college career, he held school records for completion percentage, touchdowns, passing yards, total offense and completions.

Durant was born on August 19, 1982, in Florence, South Carolina to Betty and Israel Durant.

He has three brothers and a sister.

His younger brother, Justin, played for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and his older brother, Keyshawn, was a quarterback at South Carolina State.

Durant attended high school at Wilson High School in Florence, South Carolina.

During his senior year of high school, he led the team to South Carolina's 4-A state semi-finals.

Durant set a school record with 2,446 passing yards and tied his own record with 25 touchdown passes, which was set during his sophomore season.

He was named a Super Prep All-America, Honorable Mention All-America by USA Today and Prep Star All-Region selection.

He also played in the South Carolina All-Star game, where he completed 9 of his 11 passing attempts for 215 yards.

Durant signed a letter of intent to play college football at the University of North Carolina in 2000.

In 2001, during his first NCAA season, Durant established school freshman records with 17 touchdown passes, 142 completions, 1843 passing yards and 1971 yards of total offense.

As a freshman, Durant split time with Ronald Curry, helping the team to a victory in the 2001 Peach Bowl against Auburn.

He was awarded the Jeffrey Cowell Memorial Award as the team's top freshman.

After his college career, Durant was one of the most accomplished athletes in the school's history.

He held 51 offensive records at the school.

During his sophomore season, Durant set the school's single-game record for passing yards with 417 during a victory against Arizona State.

In his junior year, he set single-season records with 389 passing attempts, 234 completions and 2,551 passing yards.

Durant had set UNC records with 1,159 passing attempts, 701 completions, 68 passing touchdowns, 8,755 passing yards and 9,630 yards of total offense.

While playing football at the University of North Carolina, Durant completed a degree in African-American studies.

Durant was undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, but signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens and attended their training camp.

He was briefly on the team's practice squad, but was cut during the 2005 season because of concerns about his size.

Durant was signed as a free agent by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2006, and became the club's full-time starting quarterback in 2009.

Durant was placed on the Ottawa Renegades negotiation list in 2006, by future Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman.

After the Renegades folded, his rights were obtained by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and later dealt to the Roughriders in a trade that included Corey Holmes.

Durant signed with the team on May 11, 2006.

During the 2006 season, he served as the team's backup quarterback for eight games, completing a single pass for 14 yards and recording a single rushing attempt for 20 yards in a game against Hamilton.

Durant was on the team's practice roster for the remaining ten games.

His freshman records for passing yards and completions were broken in 2007 by T. J. Yates.

During his freshman season, Durant was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Week five times.

He finished second overall in ACC Rookie of the Year voting to Florida State quarterback Chris Rix.

During the 2007 season, Durant spent the entire season on the active roster, and was available for all of the Roughrider regular season and playoff games, but did not see any game action while serving as the team's third-string quarterback.

Durant was on the sidelines as starting quarterback Kerry Joseph led Roughriders to a victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.

Joseph was traded to the Toronto Argonauts prior to the 2008 season, leaving the club without an incumbent quarterback.

During the season, the Roughriders tried four different starting quarterbacks including Durant, Steven Jyles, Michael Bishop and Marcus Crandell.

He was named a CFL West Division All-Star in 2009 and 2013.

Durant was the starting quarterback when the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the 101st Grey Cup in 2013 on their home field.

Durant also played for the Montreal Alouettes in 2017.

His brother Justin played in the National Football League as a linebacker.